Wills Act Compliance and the Harmless Error Approach

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 61 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (13 download)

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Book Synopsis Wills Act Compliance and the Harmless Error Approach by : Peter T. Wendel

Download or read book Wills Act Compliance and the Harmless Error Approach written by Peter T. Wendel and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 61 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What degree of compliance with the Wills Act formalities should the courts require when analyzing whether a will has been properly executed? The conventional wisdom is that historically courts have insisted on absolute strict compliance, favoring formalities over testamentary intent. In 1975, Prof. John Langbein argued that substantial compliance with the Wills Act formalities should suffice. A little over a decade later, he modified his proposal, arguing for a harmless error approach.Prof. Langbein's proposals have been well received. Many academics have endorsed them. The Uniform Probate Code and the Restatement (Third) of Property have adopted his harmless error approach. Yet relatively few states have adopted either proposal. If Prof. Langbein's substantial compliance/harmless error proposals are so much better than strict compliance, what explains the failure of most jurisdictions to adopt either of them?This Article argues that (1) many of the states intuitively realize that the issue is not as simple as Prof. Langbein depicts it - that 'strict compliance' is neither as monolithic nor as strict as he portrays it; (2) most jurisdictions, in fact, do not apply the strict compliance approach he describes but rather a variation of it - flexible strict compliance; and (3) the real issue is not whether substantial compliance/harmless error is better than traditional strict compliance, but whether substantial compliance/harmless error is better than flexible strict compliance - and the answer to that question is far from obvious. Flexible strict compliance adopts a more pragmatic approach to the public policy considerations underlying the Wills Act formalities, eschewing the functional approach and instead favoring an approach that balances testator's intent with costs of administration and the potential for fraud, resulting in an approach that is more efficient than either substantial compliance or harmless error.

Partial Harmless Error for Wills

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (137 download)

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Book Synopsis Partial Harmless Error for Wills by : David Horton

Download or read book Partial Harmless Error for Wills written by David Horton and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In many legal systems, the Wills Act requires testators to memorialize their wishes in a signed and witnessed writing. For centuries, courts insisted on strict compliance with these fussy statutory requirements. But in 1975, South Australia adopted the harmless error rule, which permits judges to forgive execution defects if there is compelling evidence that a decedent intended a document to be effective. Although several countries have now embraced this powerful curative doctrine, most American states have not. This root of this resistance is fear that replacing the clean lines of traditional law with a muddy standard will breed litigation. This invited contribution to the Iowa Law Review's Wealth Transfer Law in Comparative and International Perspective Symposium updates our understanding of the harmless error rule by offering the first study of its impact on the day-to-day operations of a U.S. probate court. Its centerpiece is a dataset of 2,453 estates that came on calendar in Alameda County, California between 2008 and 2010. The Golden State adopted what I call “partial” harmless error -- a statute that can cure some deviations from the Wills Act but not others -- in 2009. Thus, my research offers new insight into the costs and benefits of relaxing the formalities that govern the execution of wills. My marquee finding is that partial harmless error's impact on the litigation rate was minimal. In addition, I show that by retaining certain statutory elements as mandatory, partial harmless error prevents migraine-inducing dilemmas about whether a decedent wanted an instrument to be her will.

Restatement of the Law of Property

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 224 pages
Book Rating : 4.F/5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Restatement of the Law of Property by : American Law Institute

Download or read book Restatement of the Law of Property written by American Law Institute and published by . This book was released on 1936 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Emanuel Law Outlines for Wills, Trusts, and Estates

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Publisher : Aspen Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1543817114
Total Pages : 859 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (438 download)

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Book Synopsis Emanuel Law Outlines for Wills, Trusts, and Estates by : Peter T. Wendel

Download or read book Emanuel Law Outlines for Wills, Trusts, and Estates written by Peter T. Wendel and published by Aspen Publishing. This book was released on 2019-12-30 with total page 859 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The most trusted name in law school outlines, Emanuel Law Outlines support your class preparation, provide reference for your outline creation, and supply a comprehensive breakdown of topic matter for your entire study process. Created by Steven Emanuel, these course outlines have been relied on by generations of law students. Each title includes both capsule and detailed versions of the critical issues and key topics you must know to master the course. Also included are exam questions with model answers, an alpha-list of cases, and a cross reference table of cases for all of the leading casebooks. Emanuel Law Outline Features: #1 outline choice among law students Comprehensive review of all major topics Capsule summary of all topics Cross-reference table of cases Time-saving format Great for exam prep

Model Rules of Professional Conduct

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Publisher : American Bar Association
ISBN 13 : 9781590318737
Total Pages : 216 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (187 download)

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Book Synopsis Model Rules of Professional Conduct by : American Bar Association. House of Delegates

Download or read book Model Rules of Professional Conduct written by American Bar Association. House of Delegates and published by American Bar Association. This book was released on 2007 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides an up-to-date resource for information on legal ethics. Federal, state and local courts in all jurisdictions look to the Rules for guidance in solving lawyer malpractice cases, disciplinary actions, disqualification issues, sanctions questions and much more. In this volume, black-letter Rules of Professional Conduct are followed by numbered Comments that explain each Rule's purpose and provide suggestions for its practical application. The Rules will help you identify proper conduct in a variety of given situations, review those instances where discretionary action is possible, and define the nature of the relationship between you and your clients, colleagues and the courts.

Emanuel Law Outlines for Wills, Trusts, and Estates Keyed to Sitkoff and Dukeminier

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Publisher : Aspen Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1543850111
Total Pages : 520 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (438 download)

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Book Synopsis Emanuel Law Outlines for Wills, Trusts, and Estates Keyed to Sitkoff and Dukeminier by : Peter T. Wendel

Download or read book Emanuel Law Outlines for Wills, Trusts, and Estates Keyed to Sitkoff and Dukeminier written by Peter T. Wendel and published by Aspen Publishing. This book was released on 2022-10-25 with total page 520 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Any law school graduate will tell you that when picking your outline tool you need to pick the best because your outlines are the most important study tool you will use throughout your law school career. Developed by legendary study aid author Steve Emanuel, Emanuel® Law Outlines (ELOs) are the #1 outline choice among law students. An ELO ensures that you understand the concepts as you learn them in class and helps you study for exams throughout the semester. Here's why you need an ELO from your first day of class right through your final exam: ELOs help you focus on the concepts and issues you need to master to succeed on exams. They are easy to understand: Each ELO contains comprehensive coverage of the topics, cases, and black letter law found in your specific casebook, but is explained in a way that is understandable. The Quiz Yourself and Essay Q&A features help you test your knowledge throughout the semester. Exam Tips alert you to the issues and fact patterns that commonly pop up on exams. The Capsule Summary provides a quick review of the key concepts covered in the full Outline—perfect for exam review!

The Riddle of Harmless Error

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Publisher : Columbus : Ohio State University Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 136 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (31 download)

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Book Synopsis The Riddle of Harmless Error by : Roger J. Traynor

Download or read book The Riddle of Harmless Error written by Roger J. Traynor and published by Columbus : Ohio State University Press. This book was released on 1970 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Wills, Trusts, and Estates

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Publisher : Aspen Publishers
ISBN 13 : 9780735506367
Total Pages : 1178 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (63 download)

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Book Synopsis Wills, Trusts, and Estates by : Jesse Dukeminier

Download or read book Wills, Trusts, and Estates written by Jesse Dukeminier and published by Aspen Publishers. This book was released on 2000 with total page 1178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this timely new edition, distinguished authors Dukeminier and Johanson build on the success of their phenomenally popular casebook Wills, Trusts, and Estates with new coverage of non-traditional family arrangements, living wills, and much more. the authors blend cases selected for human interest as well as teaching value with provocative hypotheticals, cartoons, photographs, and other illustrations to comprehensively cover this area in a very lively, readable manner. Organized logically, The book begins with estate planning and its limitations, moves to wills and will substitutes, progresses to trusts, and concludes with a chapter on taxation. New topic coverage includes: babies inadvertently swapped in hospitals, surrogate mothers, lesbian adoption, and artificial insemination (including children conceived after sperm donor's death) living wills and powers of attorney for health care, including the Cruzan case And The Uniform Health Care Decisions Act a new chapter combining mental capacity and undue influence, which features the Seward Johnson will contest and related preventive lawyering issues shortened, more teachable chapters on future interests and perpetuities latest changes To The Uniform Probate Code a completely revised and reorganized trustee administration chapter Like its predecessors, this book is a lively, flexible, and understandable teaching tool that is accompanied by a detailed and witty Teacher's Manual, which is regarded as the best in the field.

Tomorrow's Inheritance

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ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 55 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (13 download)

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Book Synopsis Tomorrow's Inheritance by : David Horton

Download or read book Tomorrow's Inheritance written by David Horton and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 55 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The rules that govern the creation of an estate plan are in flux. Courts once demanded strict adherence to the Wills Act. Yet this legacy of hyper-vigilance is waning, as the Uniform Probate Code, the Restatement (Third) of Property, and ten states have adopted the harmless error rule. Meanwhile, trusts, which need not comply with the Wills Act, have eclipsed wills as the dominant method of posthumous wealth transmission. This Article explores three budding topics that threaten to further complicate this area. First, there are anecdotal accounts of decedents trying to make electronic wills. In both strict compliance and harmless error jurisdictions, e-wills raise thorny issues about the meaning of “signed” and “writing” in the Wills Act, and when, if ever, courts should be able to overlook violations of the statute. Second, despite the received wisdom that trusts are less formal than wills, a rising number of settlors are failing to observe the arcane principles that govern the transfer of property into a trust. Third, most state legislatures have adopted or are currently considering statutes that give fiduciaries access to the contents of a decedent's email, text messaging, and social media accounts. But the precise steps necessary to convey these cutting-edge forms of property after death is unclear. The Article tries to help courts and policymakers regulate these matters by offering a fresh perspective on the purpose of mechanical, bright-line principles in the realm of estate planning. As conventionally framed, this debate revolves around what the Article calls the “intent paradigm”: the idea that execution doctrines should be gauged primarily by whether they facilitate or frustrate the wishes of individual decedents. Conversely, the Article explores a different virtue of formalism: its ability to prevent decedents from imposing spillover costs. The Article demonstrates how some unyielding principles limit the burden on courts, survivors, trustees, the trustee's creditors, purchasers of trust property, and other third parties. It then explains how recognizing this anti-externality function can pay dividends in wills law, trust law, and emerging niches such as the inheritability of digital assets.

Michigan Court Rules

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 520 pages
Book Rating : 4.A/5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Michigan Court Rules by : Kelly Stephen Searl

Download or read book Michigan Court Rules written by Kelly Stephen Searl and published by . This book was released on 1922 with total page 520 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Wills, Trusts, and Estates, Eleventh Edition

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Publisher : Aspen Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1543824471
Total Pages : 1524 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (438 download)

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Book Synopsis Wills, Trusts, and Estates, Eleventh Edition by : Robert H. Sitkoff

Download or read book Wills, Trusts, and Estates, Eleventh Edition written by Robert H. Sitkoff and published by Aspen Publishing. This book was released on 2021-11-01 with total page 1524 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Buy a new version of this textbook and receive access to the Connected eBook with Study Center on CasebookConnect, including: lifetime access to the online ebook with highlight, annotation, and search capabilities; practice questions from your favorite study aids; an outline tool and other helpful resources. Connected eBooks provide what you need most to be successful in your law school classes. Learn more about Connected eBooks. Widely hailed as one of the best casebooks in legal education, this comprehensive text combines interesting cases, thoughtful analysis, notes, images, and a clear organization for an excellent teaching tool. Cartoons, illustrations, case documents, and photographs provide engaging visual commentary. Sidebars on relevant persons, places, and things provide interesting and sometimes humorous context. A comprehensive Teacher’s Manual provides a complete teaching summary of all materials in the book, and comprehensive PowerPoint slides provide helpful structure for classroom organization. New to the Eleventh Edition: New section on will execution during the COVID-19 pandemic, with attention to reconciling “presence” with social distancing Updated and completely revised section on electronic or digital wills, with attention to the latest cases and statutes Updated to account for the 2021 and 2019 revisions to the Uniform Probate Code that, among other things, eliminated gender-based distinctions and expanded recognition of non-biological parent-child relationships Updated coverage of wealth and income inequality and new material on recent proposals for a wealth tax Updated and completely revised section on trust decanting, with attention to the latest statutory and case law developments Updated and completely revised section on asset protection trusts, with attention to key choice-of-law and fraudulent transfer principles Professors and students will benefit from: Unique blend of wit, erudition, insight, and playfulness retained from the late Jesse Dukeminier Organization that covers all the key topics in a logical and clear format Interesting cases that are not only fun to read, but fun to teach Cases enhanced and connected to broader legal principles by well-written connective text, notes, questions, problems, and sidebars Arresting two-color design Cartoons, illustrations, wills and other case documents, and photographs that provide visual commentary and teaching aids Teaching materials include: Teacher’s Manual that provides a complete teaching summary of all materials in the book PowerPoint slides that provide explanatory diagrams and structure for classroom discussion Transition Guide Sample Exams Sample Estate Planning Documents

The Cambridge Handbook of Compliance

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Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1108754139
Total Pages : 1559 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (87 download)

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Book Synopsis The Cambridge Handbook of Compliance by : Benjamin van Rooij

Download or read book The Cambridge Handbook of Compliance written by Benjamin van Rooij and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-05-20 with total page 1559 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Compliance has become key to our contemporary markets, societies, and modes of governance across a variety of public and private domains. While this has stimulated a rich body of empirical and practical expertise on compliance, thus far, there has been no comprehensive understanding of what compliance is or how it influences various fields and sectors. The academic knowledge of compliance has remained siloed along different disciplinary domains, regulatory and legal spheres, and mechanisms and interventions. This handbook bridges these divides to provide the first one-stop overview of what compliance is, how we can best study it, and the core mechanisms that shape it. Written by leading experts, chapters offer perspectives from across law, regulatory studies, management science, criminology, economics, sociology, and psychology. This volume is the definitive and comprehensive account of compliance.

The Uniform Probate Code Authorizes Notarized Wills

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (137 download)

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Book Synopsis The Uniform Probate Code Authorizes Notarized Wills by : Lawrence W. Waggoner

Download or read book The Uniform Probate Code Authorizes Notarized Wills written by Lawrence W. Waggoner and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Anglo-American law has for centuries required that a formal will - to be validly executed - must be in writing, signed by the testator, and witnessed by a specified number of attesting witnesses. Because these statutory formalities have traditionally been applied strictly, a number of wills have been declared invalid in cases in which there was no question that the decedent intended the document to be his or her will and no question of wrongdoing. In 1990, the Uniform Probate Code (UPC) responded to the overly harsh strict-compliance approach by adopting a harmless-error rule. Under the UPC's harmless-error rule, a will whose execution does not strictly comply with the statutory formalities can nevertheless be treated as valid if the proponent establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the decedent intended the document to be his or her will. In 2008, the UPC took another step toward preventing a will from being declared invalid merely because of a harmless defect in execution. Recognizing that it is an accepted part of our culture that the way to make a document "legal" is to get it notarized, the UPC now authorizes notarization as an optional method of will execution instead of attestation by witnesses. In this short article, the Reporter for the UPC amendments describes the unprecedented provision and explains its rationale.

Comparative Succession Law

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 0199696802
Total Pages : 523 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (996 download)

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Book Synopsis Comparative Succession Law by : Kenneth G. C. Reid

Download or read book Comparative Succession Law written by Kenneth G. C. Reid and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 523 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Launching a major new research project examining the principles of succession law in comparative perspective, this book discusses the formalities which the law imposes in order for a person to make a testamentary disposal of property. Among the questions considered are the following. How are wills made? What precisely are the rules - as to the signature of the testator, the use of witnesses, the need for a notary public or lawyer, and so on? Is there is a choice of will-type and, if so, which type is used most often and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each? How common is will-making or do most people die intestate? What happens if formalities are not observed? How can requirements of form be explained and justified? How did the law develop historically, what is the state of the law today, and what are the prospects for the future? The focus is on Europe, and on countries which have been influenced by the European experience. Thus in addition to giving a detailed treatment of the law in Austria, Belgium, England and Wales, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain, the book explores legal developments in Australia, New Zealand, the United States of America, and in some of the countries of Latin America with a particular emphasis on Brazil. It also includes chapters on two of the mixed jurisdictions - Scotland and South Africa - and on Islamic Law. The book opens with chapters on Roman law and on the early modern law in Europe, thus setting the historical scene as well as anticipating and complementing the accounts of national history which appear in subsequent chapters; and it concludes with an assessment of the overall development of the law in the countries surveyed, and with some wider reflections on the nature and purpose of testamentary formalities.

Academic Legal Writing

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 228 pages
Book Rating : 4.F/5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Academic Legal Writing by : Eugene Volokh

Download or read book Academic Legal Writing written by Eugene Volokh and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Resource added for the Paralegal program 101101.

Wills, Trusts, and Estates in Context

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Publisher : Aspen Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1543801293
Total Pages : 615 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (438 download)

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Book Synopsis Wills, Trusts, and Estates in Context by : Scott Andrew Shepard

Download or read book Wills, Trusts, and Estates in Context written by Scott Andrew Shepard and published by Aspen Publishing. This book was released on 2018-09-14 with total page 615 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wills, Trusts, and Estates in Context offers law school professors and students an accessible, student-friendly coursebook with narrative exposition, replete with significant caches of examples before and after cases. The narrative sections often build slowly in complexity, allowing students to learn the subject from the foundations up. The organization allows equal effectiveness for teaching Wills first or Trusts first, though the text—following tradition—presents Wills first. The book does not rely primarily on cases to teach doctrine. Instead of “hiding the ball,” Shepard offers students the ball and then “plays catch” with students by offering cases that guide an exploration and confirmation of the student’s understanding of doctrine. The accessibility of this book is complemented by a Practicum Problem, a case file that is designed to offer students a practice-based, team-organized, drafting and negotiation opportunity at the end of the semester; the book’s website, accessible to students, will also include previously used practicum problems that could be discussed throughout the semester to give students context and motivation by putting the student in the role of the lawyer handling a case. The curriculum is divided into three parts: (1) intestacy, other default rules, and mandatory rules that apply to both wills and trusts; (2) wills; and (3) trusts. It is structured to invite – but not require – instructors to offer students multiple in-semester assessments by testing the materials covered in each section at the end of the section, and before the practicum begins. The author will include some multiple choice problems to strengthen the formative assessment feature of the book. The practicum problem will have rich TM support to allow it to be used in different ways and to different degrees, and it will be revised or replaced annually. (The author uses these three section tests and the practicum problem as a substitute for a final exam, but it will be no problem to use this text in more traditional ways.) Professors and students will benefit from: Coverage of topics that is generally proportional to the coverage of topics on the bar exam Example- and hypothetical-heavy narrative exposition 20 highly relevant and illustrative cases, including some of the most teachable and often-used in the field Materials presented more quickly than traditional textbooks, in a manner that has proven accessible to a wide range of students Tests at the end of the three primary divisions of the text. End-of-the-semester practicum. The practicum is a practice-based, writing, negotiation and team-work project that gives students a chance to apply what they’ve learned in a setting that models real practice. Teaching materials include: Integrated Teacher’s Manual (the teaching information in the manual is integrated right into the student text at the appropriate point, highlighted, to make the electronic version of the teacher’s manual extremely user friendly). Online Case Bank (a repository of full cases to supplement the more succinct coverage within the printed text).

Devising, Dying and Dispute

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Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317151690
Total Pages : 310 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (171 download)

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Book Synopsis Devising, Dying and Dispute by : Lloyd Bonfield

Download or read book Devising, Dying and Dispute written by Lloyd Bonfield and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-22 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seventeenth-century England was a country obsessed with property rights. For only those who owned property were considered to have a vested interest in the maintenance of law, order and social harmony. As such, establishing the ownership of 'things' was a constant concern for all people, and nowhere is this more evident than in the cases of disputed wills. Based on a wealth of surviving evidence from the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, the probate jurisdiction which probated wills of the more wealthy English property owners as well as some of those with a more modest quantity of property, this book investigates what litigation over the validity of wills reveals about the interplay between society and law. The volume investigates, catalogs, and systematizes the legal issues that were raised in will disputes in the Canterbury Court in the last half of the seventeenth century. However, this is not just a book about law and legal practice. The records from which it draws plunge us into deeply personal and often tragic situations, revealing how the last requests of the dead and dying were often ignored or misinterpreted by family, friends and creditors for their own benefit. By focusing on property law as reflected in cases of disputed wills, the book provides a glimpse at a much fuller spectrum of society than is often the case. Even people of relatively modest means were concerned to pass on their possessions, and their cases provide a snapshot of the type of objects owned and social relationships revealed by patterns of bequests. This too is true for women, who despite being denied full participation in many areas of civic life, are frequently encountered as key players in court cases over disputed wills. What emerges from this study is a picture of a society for which notions of law and private property were increasingly intertwined, yet in which courts were less concerned with formality than with ensuring that the intentions of will-makers were properly carried out.